HOW TO: Identify First Editions and First Printings [Archive] - Palaver - A forum for Stephen King fans & Book Collectors

Patrick

11-09-2007, 05:49 PM

There have been a few short discussions here and there regarding certain first editions - books and/or dustjackets. This purpose of this thread is to discuss identifying first editions and/or first printings of books and their related dustjackets.

This should fill in the holes for some collectors and help to educate people just beginning, or thinking about starting, their own collections. Therefore please discuss any and all SK books in this regard, ask questions, etc.

Happy collecting!

Hutch

11-09-2007, 06:00 PM

I created the following guide a few years ago
http://www.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/deluxepagecreate.aspx?sfid=30007&type=e2

Ruki

11-09-2007, 06:41 PM

i've used that a lot, didn't know it was yours. thanks for all the help :huglove:

sarajean

11-09-2007, 06:43 PM

i've used it, too.

so...now i've confirmed that i have firsts of IT, the tommyknockers and 4 past midnight...all three were picked up at a thrift store for less than 7$ total.

this made my night. :)

Patrick

11-10-2007, 07:57 AM

That's great information, Hutch. Thanks for sharing!

And congrats to you, SJ, on your good buys. :)

Matt

11-10-2007, 11:24 AM

I created the following guide a few years ago

http://home.earthlink.net/~hotoffthepress/id1.html (http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ehotoffthepress/id1.html)

That's some great work Hutch, its in an .html format which means I may be able to incorporate it onto the site somehow.

Would you mind if I tried that? :excited:

Daghain

11-10-2007, 11:48 AM

Hutch, that's great! Thanks for sharing. :D

NeedfulKings

11-10-2007, 01:51 PM

funky dredd

11-10-2007, 08:22 PM

Excellent list!! I have used this many times--I didn't know it was Hutch's! :D

Other notables:

Colorado Kid was first released in paperback, but the first hardcover (prior to the limited editions) was a Large Print Edition.

Storm of the Century has a hardcover, quarter cloth, issued by BOMC

I'm sure there are other unique editions out there.
There's also a way to find out if you have a first edition paperback of Colorado Kid. Have a look at this thread.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7401256&postcount=58

jhanic

11-11-2007, 08:53 AM

Very helpful!

John

Cutter

12-08-2007, 12:14 PM

natehorning

12-08-2007, 01:00 PM

Odd I would be asking this question when I only have about 4 UK books to go. But has anyone done a "How to identify a first UK Edition?" before. I've never seen one. Do they even go into second printings? heck honestly I don't know. But I would be interested.

Didn't Ceri have one on the skfakes website? If so, maybe he'd be willing to transfer it here as that sight is no longer working.

Nate

jhanic

12-08-2007, 01:35 PM

This site has a number of pictures of the first editions, both US and UK, of many of King's books, including proofs. He also includes what it says on the copyright page of the editions. This may help some.

King Books Pages (http://www.redeem.freeserve.co.uk/Kingbookpages/)

John

Mr. Rabbit Trick

12-09-2007, 03:50 AM

Here is the file that was on SKFakes...

How to identify UK 1st Editions

http://www.filefactory.com/file/288d29/

jhanic

12-09-2007, 04:25 AM

I finally got it after going through all the gyrations required by the File Factory site. If anyone needs a copy, it's a Word file, five pages. Let me know and I'll email you a copy.

(Let me know your email address. I can't figure out how to attach a file to the email response here on the site.)

John

Bev Vincent

12-09-2007, 07:18 AM

There's also a way to find out if you have a first edition paperback of Colorado Kid. Have a look at this thread.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7401256&postcount=58

All copies of Colorado Kid are first printings. The run was so large, Charles Ardai told me he doubted there'd ever be another. He said he wished there would be so he'd get a chance to fix that running header gaffe.

By the way -- feel free to grab whatever you want from my guide to identifying first editions from the FAQ area at King's web site.

Randall Flagg

12-09-2007, 07:33 AM

I will have to check with Ceri, to see if he minds if we post it all, but the first part of the sheet looks like this:

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7325/slide11iy0.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3975/silde12zx6.jpg
http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/7043/slide2ka5.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/75/slide3su3.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/8437/slide4do8.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6805/slide5lc9.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9120/slide6xn5.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6498/slide7if0.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5848/slide8vb9.jpg
http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/2991/slide9qj3.jpg

Randall Flagg

12-09-2007, 07:35 AM

By the way -- feel free to grab whatever you want from my guide to identifying first editions from the FAQ area at King's web site.
Thanks Bev. I just might. Untill someone with more skills than I did it, it would look like the first page of Ceri's UK First list. I end up chopping the document into numerous Jpeg images.

Calla_Wolf

12-09-2007, 07:49 AM

I will have to check with Ceri, to see if he minds if we post it all, but the first part of the sheet looks like this:

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3097/slide1vk7.jpg

I've absolutely no objection - get it up there guys :-)

I had a lot of help with this - a couple of SKFakes members worked on it and Hutch acted as editor.

Cutter

12-10-2007, 12:30 PM

Thanks everyone for pointing in the right direction and Ceri for the information. That is very helpful!

Matt

12-10-2007, 03:06 PM

Amazing stuff

herbertwest

12-11-2007, 12:05 PM

By the way -- feel free to grab whatever you want from my guide to identifying first editions from the FAQ area at King's web site.

Yeah, but is it updated?
not sure..

Bev Vincent

12-11-2007, 12:19 PM

It's a couple of books out of date, but there's not much to dither over concerning the recent Scribner books -- all the rules are the same. I'm updating it next month when Duma Key comes out.

herbertwest

12-10-2008, 11:46 AM

thats brilliant!

Would there be a way to separate it in 2 threads? one US & one UK?

Bev Vincent

12-10-2008, 12:44 PM

The updated list (through Just After Sunset) is up on King's web site. It only deals with US editions.

Gris

01-16-2009, 10:53 AM

Hutch, that link way back at the beginning is dead. Do you have a new one by any chance?

Hutch

01-16-2009, 11:48 AM

Thank you.
I killed that page. I just modified the link in my original post to a new page a that's in my store. Here's the new page :
http://www.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/deluxepagecreate.aspx?sfid=30007&type=e2

Hutch, that link way back at the beginning is dead. Do you have a new one by any chance?

pixiedark76

04-14-2009, 02:07 PM

I have a question about dust jackets and first editions. I have some dust jackets that are price clipped, but the ISBN numbers match for the first edition printing. (I looked them up in Stephen King a primary bibliography, by Justin Brooks.) I heard that first editions can have book club edition dust jackets. If the dust jacket is price clipped, does that decrease the value of the book.

Can you get first editions from a book club? I got a lot of books from Double Day book club.

pixiedark76

04-14-2009, 02:11 PM

I have a question about number of printings and first editions. I have a fourth printing of the Talisman, is it still a first edition? Is a fourth printing worth less than a first printing?

Room 217 Caretaker

04-14-2009, 02:24 PM

I have a question about number of printings and first editions. I have a fourth printing of the Talisman, is it still a first edition? Is a fourth printing worth less than a first printing?

This is one of those opinion type conversations and you will get many different answers on this.

I for one hate the First Edition First Print, First Edition Second Print and so on.

It's either a first edition or not. A first edition is the first print run. Final.

Anything after that I could care less about.

Now keep this in mind. A 1st edition jacket can carry over onto later prints sometimes. This is where you see an auction that says 1st edition 4th print. The jacket is the real value in this case.

Just my view on the question.

Mulleins
Cumberland VA

jhanic

04-14-2009, 02:34 PM

I agree. Also, a price-clipped dust jacket drastically lowers the value, first edition or not. The ONLY exception to this is the second-state jacket for Salem's Lot, which was price-clipped by the publisher and printed with a different price.

John

gsvec

04-14-2009, 02:48 PM

I agree with you both. First/first period the end!

Spaceman Spiff

10-15-2009, 07:41 AM

There's a lot of great information in here! :thumbsup:

Thanks, everyone!
John
My Stephen King collection (http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?tag=Stephen+King&offset=0&view=SpacemanSpiff&collection=-1&shelf=shelf&sort=date)

ChristineB

11-22-2009, 12:32 PM

For me I agree with the others here.

The First Edition is the first printing of the book, period. Anything after that I really don't care about.

As to whether the subsiquent printings have worth? Well that depends on the book. The Gunslinger 2nd print is worth a bit of money, not that I would pay anything for it. Buying a later printing of one of the Doubledays to get a better DJ is a good idea (assuming the DJ in question is identical to the original), but I would not pay much for it myself.

ChristineB

11-22-2009, 12:36 PM

Can you get first editions from a book club? I got a lot of books from Double Day book club.

No. A book club edition is just that not a first edition. However there is one case this is not true with SK, Secret Windows was only printed by a book club therefore it is the only edtion of the book. It will not be worth much since it is impossible to tell what printing you are dealing with.

Many BCE will have different dimensions, colors on the cover, and end paper colors.

Sam

11-22-2009, 02:12 PM

I'm going to add an addendum to this Christine. There are also people who collect the old red leather bound Stephen King Library editions as well which were only available through the Stephen King Library, a book club in itself. Additionally, as my wife is a SK Library member we received Under The Dome last week. The edition we received IS a First Edition from S&S from everything I can tell. The cover is identical in every way to the cover of the book I purchased at the Atlanta B&N signing except it is the white letters cover instead of the grey letters. The actual book itself is also identical to the edition from B&N. Perhaps because of the size of the book it was cheaper to just get books from S&S than to print them themselves. Either way, I received an actual First Edition from a book club. This is the only King book to be done so, as all the others I got from the SK Library have been obvious Book Club Editions.

Sam

11-22-2009, 02:14 PM

Oh, and Christine, don't forget to throw out your dust jackets so your library can look like a "proper" library. ;)

gsvec

11-22-2009, 02:16 PM

Oh, and Christine, don't forget to throw out your dust jackets so your library can look like a "proper" library. ;)
:panic: NOOOOOOO!!!! :panic:

Sam

11-22-2009, 03:20 PM

That was from a woman that was in line with us in Atlanta Gretchen, hence the ;).

Anyway, this lady told us that she throws away the dust jacket whenever she buys a book. I can't remember if she or someone behind her was the one who told us their interior decorator had told them if you want a "proper" library you had to remove all the dust jackets. My wife's a librarian, and I've been in many, many libraries, and we both agree that in every ACTUAL library we've seen the books had dust jackets on them.

I will never understand why someone would throw out their dust jackets, but damn she did. Every last one. I hope she never buys a copy of Salem's Lot.

Randall Flagg

11-22-2009, 04:36 PM

Sam

11-22-2009, 05:13 PM

The edition we received IS a First Edition from S&S from everything I can tell. The cover is identical in every way to the cover of the book I purchased at the Atlanta B&N signing except it is the white letters cover instead of the grey letters. The actual book itself is also identical to the edition from B&N. Perhaps because of the size of the book it was cheaper to just get books from S&S than to print them themselves. Either way, I received an actual First Edition from a book club. This is the only King book to be done so, as all the others I got from the SK Library have been obvious Book Club Editions.
What if any price is listed inside the dustjacket?
If a bookclub sends out actual first editions, unless one discloses that the book was from a bookclub, it is a first edition-no difference.. Rarely does a bookclub edition meet the points of a first trade edition book, and also have the original Dj that indicates the proper Issue price, ISBN etc.

Edit:
Measurements? I measure an off the shelf 1st UTD as ~9 7/16"x 6 7/16" x 2 3/8"

The price listed on the inside of the dust jacket is the same as the one from B&N... $35.00. Even the ISBN is the same on the back of the jacket. The paper quality feels the same, and the two books together are the same size (I didn't bother with a tape measurement).

Honestly, if the two dust jackets were the same color (one is grey and the other is white after all) I couldn't tell the two apart.
Remove the dust jackets, and the only way to tell the two apart is the signature in the copy from the signing.

Patrick

11-22-2009, 05:45 PM

Sam, you mention the SKL BCE has a white-lettered dustjacket. Is it the same one that has been a topic of discussion in the UTD thread?

Sam

11-22-2009, 06:15 PM

Not knowing which thread you mean, I can't say. There's something like four or five UTD threads right now.

The DJ on the book club edition is the same as the white lettered edition that can be found in stores right now.

The first picture here (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=9647) is the jacket I'm talking about.

Patrick

11-22-2009, 10:54 PM

Yep, that's the dust jacket I was asking about.

Looks like you're right, the SKL simply sent out the standard S&S First Edition and called it a day.

Mr. Rabbit Trick

11-23-2009, 05:03 AM

Anyway, this lady told us that she throws away the dust jacket whenever she buys a book.
I will never understand why someone would throw out their dust jackets, but damn she did. Every last one. I hope she never buys a copy of Salem's Lot.

It's a "Class" thing. In Europe, only the "Lower" classes have dust jackets on their books.

Just thank God you don't live in a Monarchy. :)

Brice

11-23-2009, 05:27 AM

If having the dustjackets on my first editions makes me lower class I'm cool with that and will cheerfully remain firmly ensconced in my station in life. :)

ChristineB

11-23-2009, 09:22 AM

Oh, and Christine, don't forget to throw out your dust jackets so your library can look like a "proper" library. ;)

:rofl: Yeh Sam, I'll get right on that, just after I read all his books again, and finish off my collection of all the 1st appearances of his short stories, and get all the comics, and get all the non-fiction and get all the S/L's and....

God that lady still makes me shudder. I did include that in my write up in the UTD signing thread in my story there. Don't forget the guy's mom whose interior decorator told her the DJ didn't fit with his design and had her dispose of all her DJ in her SK collection. :panic: That would be one dead or very poor interior designer after I got through with him.

ChristineB

11-23-2009, 09:34 AM

The price listed on the inside of the dust jacket is the same as the one from B&N... $35.00. Even the ISBN is the same on the back of the jacket. The paper quality feels the same, and the two books together are the same size (I didn't bother with a tape measurement).

Honestly, if the two dust jackets were the same color (one is grey and the other is white after all) I couldn't tell the two apart.
Remove the dust jackets, and the only way to tell the two apart is the signature in the copy from the signing.

Wow, that is interesting, I wonder if BMOC did the same.

All the BCE I have from SKL are regular BCE, they have no price on the DJ. I got out of the club back in 96, but the last book I got from them was interesting. It is a copy of Insomnia, the book block seems to be exactly the same as the 1st print of the book including the copywrite page complete with number line. However the binding is different, different color end pages, different cover color. The DJ is a regular BCE with no price. I wonder if book clubs are going to just start using the trade printings in the future.

Gris

11-23-2009, 10:44 AM

To get Sams' back...

The Stephen King book club has often sent real 1st/1st's instead of BCE editions. I'd say that in the time frame between From a Buick 8 and now, about have have been trues 1sts and half have been BCEs.

I'm not sure why some are and some aren't. Maybe preorder status or something.

As far as the book covers being removed for a "proper library"...

It's not uncommon to hear, but I find it silly. Point is sposed to be that you have a much more uniform appearance if you have matte cloth bindings being displayed rather than dust jackets.

Patrick

11-23-2009, 02:52 PM

Brice

11-24-2009, 05:11 AM

I guess they'd have to have an asbestos firestarter rebound to match their other books.

Gris

11-24-2009, 06:38 AM

...
As far as the book covers being removed for a "proper library"...

It's not uncommon to hear, but I find it silly. Point is sposed to be that you have a much more uniform appearance if you have matte cloth bindings being displayed rather than dust jackets. But there's still is a big difference between simply removing the dustjackets (and storing them) vs. destroying them altogether. :panic:

I agree 100%. That's just silly. Why in G-d's name would you throw them away?

My wife and I toyed with the idea of removing the jackets from a section of our library (Library (http://www.trunzos.com/main.php?g2_itemId=501)) to see how it looked, but just storing the 2000 covers somewhere else would suck. Being as anal as my wife is about organization, we'd need a wide-set filing cabinet big enough to hold them all alphabetically.

Mr. Rabbit Trick

11-24-2009, 07:48 AM

Being as anal as my wife is about organization, we'd need a wide-set filing cabinet big enough to hold them all alphabetically.

She'd fit in perfectly with us lot. :)

Patrick

11-26-2009, 12:03 AM

Being as anal as my wife is about organization, we'd need a wide-set filing cabinet big enough to hold them all alphabetically.
She'd fit in perfectly with us lot. :)
:lol: True.

woodpryan

07-06-2010, 01:51 AM

If there is a topic about this somewhere, I'm sorry. I couldn't find it. Please point me to it. Otherwise:
I know how to recognize a first edition but how in the world can I tell what print run it is? For example, there were... what... two print runs of "The Gunslinger" in first edition. How am I supposed to know if a book I'm looking at was First printing? I can't find anything on any of my first editions which would indicate what print run it is. Another example: Joe Hill had a few printings of "Horns". I bought it in first edition the day it came out (couldn't help myself) but how can I tell if it's the first print?

Brice

07-06-2010, 03:20 AM

Mail the books to me. I'll mail you back a note telling you whether they were first editions.

woodpryan

07-06-2010, 03:27 AM

lol. I can tell a first edition. I can't tell a first, second, third, whatever print. For example I have a first edition of The Drawing of the Three. How can I know if this is the first print. It clearly says "First Edition" on the copyright page but I can't see anything that would indicate what print it is. Same with "Horns" by Joe Hill and many others that I have.

ELazansky

07-06-2010, 03:29 AM

Usually a modern first printing will have a full number line like 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 or something like that on the copyright page. The lowest number is the printing, so if you are missing a 1, then it is a second printing, etc. For The Gunslinger books from Grant, it says Second Edition or Third Edition instead of the number line. You can also check out the guide to First Editions at stephenking.com to get more info on his books. Unless I"m not understanding your question correctly...

Brice

07-06-2010, 03:34 AM

Well, I was just kidding about sending me your books. :lol:

Really most of the time it only matters if it's a 1st/1st imo. Somewhere there is a page that lists the points for identifying firsts. Usually if the number line is incomplete/doesn't include a 1 then it's a later printing. As for The Drawing of the Three there was only one printing of each of the Grant editions so if it's a Grant then it's a first printing as far as I know.

woodpryan

07-06-2010, 03:47 AM

Ah, don't worry Brice. I was able to tell by the tone of your text that you were joking. :P
In my copy of "Horns", it says "First Edition" on the copyright page but the number line is all fucked up. here:
10 11 12 13 14 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I've never seen something like that before.
In Justin Cronin's "The Passage" it says "First Edition" on the title page too but again, the number line is a little fucked up. here:
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Doesn't it normally go up to ten?
Then "Under the Dome" says "First Scribner Hardcover Edition November 2010" and the number line is normal starting from 1 and rising to 9 in odd numbers then 10 and going down to 2 in even numbers. But weren't there like 5 or 6 printings of the first edition of Under the Dome? I don't ask this question because I'm worried about these book's values but because people keep saying things like "This is a first edition third printing" or some other crap like that and the copyright page says "First Edition" and then has a normal number line. I just don't see where they are getting this extra information. Am I making any sense at all. :orely:

jhanic

07-06-2010, 03:54 AM

As long as the number line has a "1" in it, it's a first printing, no matter how the numbers themselves are arranged.

John

Brice

07-06-2010, 04:13 AM

Exactly what I was trying to say.

Ah, don't worry Brice. I was able to tell by the tone of your text that you were joking. :P

Well, I was joking...unless you start mailing boxes of your books. :P Then I was completely serious.

turtlex

07-06-2010, 04:37 AM

Hey All -

There's a thread on First Printings in the Collecting Tutorials thread. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/forumdisplay.php?f=129)

Click Here (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=1323)

We'll merge this one soon.

Bev Vincent

07-06-2010, 05:37 AM

As long as the number line has a "1" in it, it's a first printing, no matter how the numbers themselves are arranged.

John

Except for Random House books, which omit the "1" for first editions (e.g. Black House)

herbertwest

07-08-2010, 05:12 AM

What about the canadian books?
I have a (french) canadian book, on which there is no information.

The back cover, however have a wee line just over the ISBN and the barcode.
It includes :
61 2003 4

Any idea what that means or if that could help to know if it is a first printing or not?
Cell was published in 2006. so 2003 doesnt seem to mean anything.
4 could maybe be the print (since the person recently bought in on amazon)

I guess that i'll never know...